Legend of the Five Rings is a CCG like no other. The communities that have grown up around the Clan system are unlike any other game on the market. In this game, you can be a part of something larger than yourself.
Well this is my first blog post here on TCGPlayer, so I should probably introduce myself. My name is Todd Rowland and I'm the Brand Manager of Legend of the Five Rings. What that means basically is that I'm in charge of the L5R CCG, RPG, and all other promotions, events, and such related to L5R. So why am I taking time to post here? Because I love the game and I want you to play.
As Angelo's great review the other day pointed out, L5R is a CCG veteran. It is currently in its 13th year of production, second only to Magic in longevity at this point. What sets L5R apart from the crowd is the ability you have to tell your story via the game, and cause the game to change due to that. One thing you may notice on L5R cards is that a number of them have something written along the side such as "Test of the Emerald Champion 2007 - Eugene White". This is because that card, which happens to be Shosuro Jimen, exists because Eugene White defeated all other opponents at GenCon 2007 for the World Championship an chose that Shosuro Jimen should be the new Emerald Champion. The Emerald Champion is the personal bodyguard of the Emperor himself, so it was a major political gain for the Scorpion Clan, and Eugene is a Scorpion through and through.
Notice how I said that? Eugene IS a Scorpion, not Eugene plays the Scorpion. L5R is a game all about community. Players truly are members of their Clan, and the teamwork that has grown out of those loyalties has resulted in fantastic player efforts. Whereas in other games, when you play its you against every other player in the world, but when you join L5R and decide "I'm a Lion", you have the entire Lion playerbase behind you, helping you with your decks and strategy because they know that when any Lion wins, they all benefit in the card game and story.
I've run into players who played in the early years, may have been away from the game for 8 or more years who to this day still say "I'm a Crab."
How this dedication translates to the game are in storyline events. L5R has regular storyline events where players can affect the story of the game. For instance, there was a recent storyline about the descendant of a great tactician hoping to continue his ancestor's work on the methods of war. The storyline event would determine which Clan that Sun Doru, the descendant, would study with first. As it turns out the Scorpion Clan won the event, and Sun Doru appeared as a Scorpion Clan personality in the expansion Honor's Veil. His abilities are quite powerful as well, enough that other Clans are considering running him in their decks and paying loyalty penalties (an in-game cost effect for using characters outside your Clan), despite him being Scorpion.
Over the next few weeks I'll provide a look at the various Clans and what they and their members have accomplished over the years in L5R.
And it's great to meet you all!
Tags: L5R Legend Of The Five Rings Rokugan Samurai Shugenja Clan CCG TCG Cards
Related to:
Legend of the Five Rings
